A wide variety of multipart slide assemblies have been developed to support a drawer within a cabinet so as to permit the supported drawer to be fully withdrawn from the cabinet. Such telescoping slide assemblies typically comprise nested slide elements with one slide fixed to a cabinet, one slide mounted to a drawer, and one or more intermediate slides slidingly interfitted with both the cabinet and drawer slides. It is also known to use a variety of locks, latches, and release mechanisms interconnected with the slides so that extension or retraction of the slide members relative to each other is controlled or restricted.
The need for telescoping sliding assemblies of this type is especially critical in the electronic and data processing field, where electronic equipment is frequently housed on chassis that are attached to mounting racks. Electronic component chassis may be single or multiple. Multiple chassis are usually stacked to create system banks. Installing electronic components requires initially coupling an equipped chassis to a mounting rack. Servicing the electronic components requires retrieving the chassis from the mounting rack and accessing some or all of the mounted electronic components. Replacing the electronic components requires completely removing the existing chassis and replacing it with a new, fully equipped chassis. For all of these procedures, easy access to the entire chassis, including the ability to install, retrieve, and remove the chassis from its mounting rack, leads to simpler, quicker, more efficient, and more cost-effective system maintenance, and suggests the use of chassis slide assemblies. An acceptable chassis slide assembly should enable complete withdrawal of an equipped chassis from its mounting rack, and provide simple installation and replacement of equipped chassis and easy access to all chassis electronic components for servicing procedures.
Unfortunately, the use of traditional slide assemblies in this context is ineffective in meeting the needs of the industry. Coupling add-on slides to existing and replacement chassis and mounting racks is time consuming as well as expensive. Finding slide assembly components compatible with different chassis and mounting racks often proves difficult, and replacing damaged or defective slide assembly components is often impossible. Furthermore, in light of the premium on space in tightly constructed electronic equipment chassis, it is frequently difficult to adapt even bulky slide assemblies to existing chassis and mounting racks. As a result of the cost and logistical problems associated with incorporating such slide assemblies into these specifically designed electronic equipment chassis, adequate chassis slide assemblies have not been available.
Thus, there is a need, particularly in the electronic and data processing field, for a low-cost slide assembly that is simple and quick to implement and that meets the space requirement for electronic equipment chassis and mounting racks, while still being fully extendable and providing the benefit of easy accessibility. The present invention is directed to fulfilling some of this need.